Sept

The focus of public speculation on the cause of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s (PG&E) Sept. 9 transmission pipeline explosion in San Bruno, CA, shifted last Friday inside the pipe to the possibility of corrosion-causing microbes that can go undetected within older gas pipelines. And on Monday news reports of PG&E’s leak history caused the utility to issue a statement defending the thoroughness of its transmission pipeline maintenance and safety checks.

In the article “Slim Chance of Severance Tax in Pennsylvania” (see Daily GPI, Sept. 10), NGI incorrectly named the Republican candidate for Pennsylvania governor. His name is Tom Corbett. NGI regrets the error.

Icon NGS LLC is holding a 30‐day, nonbinding open season through Sept. 23 for its Tallulah Gas Storage (TGS) project in northeastern Louisiana about 15 miles east of the Delhi Hub and adjacent to the west‐to‐east pipelines connecting supply to and from the Delhi Hub.

Pacific Gas and Electric did not extend a systemwide Stage 2 high-inventory OFO beyond Wednesday.

El Paso Corp. subsidiary El Paso Midstream Group Inc. is holding a nonbinding open season through Sept. 10 to solicit interest on its proposed Marcellus Ethane Pipeline System (MEPS). If there is sufficient interest, MEPS would conduct a binding open season in October. The proposed MEPS, with a targeted in-service date of April 1, 2013, would be designed to transport up to 60,000 b/d of ethane from points of origin at the fractionation plants in the ethane-rich Marcellus Shale production region to destination interconnect points with third-party ethane pipelines and storage facilities in the Baton Rouge, LA, area. MEPS would be comprised of a combination of new pipeline and existing pipeline segments expected to be acquired from Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. and converted to ethane service. For information visit www.elpaso.com/midstream.

Alabama Gov. Robert Riley has been granted an extension until Sept. 14 to decide whether to allow a proposed deepwater liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal offshore Alabama in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) to move forward, a spokesman said.

Enron Corp. slipped deeper into the history books last Wednesday after the remaining defendants, including former CEO Jeffrey Skilling, were dismissed in an eight-year-old lawsuit filed by shareholders and investors against the bankrupt trader’s financial institutions.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Tuesday that domestic onshore natural gas production began to decline in June (see Daily GPI, Sept 30), but energy analysts said Wednesday the drop in drilling and production may not have come soon enough to correct the gas storage glut.

The story, “No Plans to Slow North American Gas Development, Says ExxonMobil Exec,” (see Daily GPI, Sept. 10), misquoted Senior Vice President Mark W. Albers, who was a keynote speaker at the Barclays Capital 2009 CEO Energy/Power Conference in New York City. Albers did not say “North American unconventional gas production will remain steady.” Rather, Albers said, “North American natural gas production will remain steady, with conventional production decline offset by increases in tight gas and shale gas.” NGI regrets the error.